Best known as the Opportunity Expert based on my proprietary leadership methodology called, "the immigrant’s perspective” that defines the characteristics to be a 21st century leader. This methodology promotes the idea of leading through a lens of opportunity – that is enabled through a mindset of continuous survival, renewal and reinvention. That if leaders embrace the immigrant’s perspective, they will have a distinct advantage in business by being able to see and seize previously unseen opportunities, and opportunities others don’t see at all. I am a former C-suite corporate executive and entrepreneur of several successful companies – my firm (Glenn Llopis Group) is a thought-leadership, human capital and business strategy consultancy. We enable corporations to develop their leadership identity to further define and implement go-to-market strategies. Most of my writings, speaking engagements and consulting assignments focus on leadership, change management, Hispanics in America, career advancement, marketing diversity management, entrepreneurship, business development and turn-around operations. I am the author of Earning Serendipity: 4 Skills for Creating and Sustaining Good Fortune in Your Work; Why a Personal Employee Brand will Save Your Career and Your Workplace, Preparing U.S. Leadership for the Cultural Demographic Shift, Awakening the Latino Factor and Women Must Dive In, Not Just Lean In. I make frequent appearances on local and national TV, including CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, and Univision. Circle me on Google+

Corporations Can Learn a Lot About Diversity Management From the NFL

The new NFL logo went into use at the 2008 draft. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By failing to hire any minorities to fill eight head coaching and seven general management vacancies following the conclusion of the 2012 NFL regular season, the NFL made it abundantly clear that diversity management remains a serious challenge. This is very concerning when you consider that in 2003, the NFL specifically established the Rooney Rule to ensure that minority coaches were considered for senior level coaching positions. This is yet another example of how diversity is managed as an initiative, rather than a best practice. However, unlike America’s corporations and political parties that tend to hide their diversity management problems – and in many cases “cut checks” to keep minority group activists quiet – the NFL is taking responsibility and holding themselves accountable for these recent hiring actions.

After NFL teams decided to pass on minority candidates, NFL Executive Vice President of Human Resources Robert Gulliver stated, “While there has been full compliance with the interview requirements of the Rooney Rule and we wish the new head coaches and general managers much success, the hiring results this year have been unexpected and reflect a disappointing lack of diversity.”

While I respect the NFL for expressing their own concerns about their lack of diversity in hiring, this certainly does not excuse them from the situation – and they know it, and are taking action. In fact, a recent NFL.com article by Gregg Rosenthal points out that the NFL is being proactive about a plan for tweaking aspects of the Rooney Rule.

Why is the NFL being so proactive? There are many reasons I’m sure. For one, the NFL is the most financially lucrative sport in America. According to The Business Insider, the NFL was a $9.5 billion dollar sport in 2011-12 – making it $1.8 billion (23.4%) more than Major League Baseball ($7.7 billion). Needless to say, their fan base is powerful and as such NFL popularity and revenue continue to grow. In 2011, NFL games accounted for 23 of the 25 most-watched sports telecasts and a total of 37 games drew at least 20 million viewers each.

As Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports, told Fox News: “Sports is, to a certain extent, recession-proof. You can see a sports event 10 different ways: on television, on your laptop, on your iPad, on your mobile phone, in bars and restaurants, in airports. There’s no other entertainment property that is so ubiquitous.”

The NFL is made extremely aware of its player demographics – for example, that the majority, 67% of them, are African-Americans – by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (“TIDES”), part of the DeVos Sport BusinessManagement Graduate Program in the University of Central Florida’s College of Business Administration. They research and create reporting scorecards across all major NCAA and professional sports. Their 2011 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Football League is a thorough overview of the diversity and inclusion landscape that exists in the NFL league office – from team ownership to their head coaches, assistant coaches, top management, physicians, head trainers, and so on.

If you read the newspapers and listen to the political pundits, diversity management has become a growing concern in America that can no longer be ignored – now that it has finally impacted both the balance sheet and the strategy of brands and political parties. Executives can no longer navigate around the issues of “doing the right thing” because of the impact on market share, brand equity, political candidacy, and the need to earn more meaningful relationships with consumers and voters

The NFL has shown how one can fail even with the best intentions to manage diversity. Just imagine the impact on the bottom line of those organizations that don’t have good intentions and/or continue to mismanage diversity as a business growth enabler.

I asked David L. Casey, VP of Workforce Strategies and Chief Diversity Officer at CVS Caremark, to give us his take on the NFL issue and corporate America. “Diversity practitioners must espouse a business case for diversity not just as the right thing to do, but also the right thing for business. It’s not an either/or proposition; it’s really both/and. So kudos to the NFL for “manning up.” This is a pivotal opportunity for corporate America to take a page out of the NFL playbook.”

I too applaud the NFL for showing no shame and holding itself publically accountable. I hope that America’s corporations begin to do the same. As the NFL knows – their fans, partners and sponsors are paying attention.

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